ESPIONAGE

Kulbhushan Jadhav: Pakistan to file counter rejoinder by July 17

Rejoinder will be in response to fresh set of pleadings filed by India in ICJ

PTI | Islamabad
April 19, 2018 11:49 IST

Protesters demanding justice for Kulbhushan Jadhav | File

Pakistan is expected to file its counter rejoinder on or before July 17 in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) relating to the case of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April last year on charges of espionage and terrorism, said a media report.

The office of Pakistan's attorney general, which is overseeing the case, is expected to receive the copy of the Indian rejoinder in a day or two, Dawn reported.

Khawar Qureshi, who pleaded Pakistan's case at the initial stage, is expected to plead the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, the report said.

India had moved the Hague-based ICJ in May last after Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism. A 10-member bench of the ICJ on May 18 had restrained Pakistan from executing Kulbhushan Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

In its written pleadings, India had accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention by not giving consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav arguing that the convention did not say that such access would not be available to an individual arrested on espionage charges.

In response, Pakistan through its counter memorial told the ICJ that the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963 applied only to legitimate visitors and did not cover clandestine operations.